God is Love

The information given a few weeks ago by psychiatrist Anton Grech that in his practice in Malta he is encountering a considerable number of children – more than he used to in the UK – who are developing anxiety because of fear of hell, provides a lot of food for thought.

Religion presented in a threatening manner... can lead to atheism- Fr Gerard Hughes

Dr Grech said this was only a matter of observation and not the result of research. Even so, his statement should be given weight. After all, research is not always as reliable as it claims to be as, often, the subjective element is not totally absent.

Tonio Caruana of the Society of Christian Doctrine (SDC – MUSEUM) insisted that the SDC is very careful not to put ideas of a punishing God into children’s heads. He suggests that some parents may be responsible.

Caruana’s intervention is understandable given that the SDC continues to be the main provider of catechesis to very young children. In the past, some of the stories they told must surely have caused anxiety in children.

I remember myself as a nine- or 10-year-old being disturbed in my sleep because of such stories. However, the SDC has changed and, in those days, they only narrated stories that were common features of that religious scenario.

Dr Grech’s sharing is not an accusation but a statement of fact. As such it is precious and should be received with gratitude by all – priests, parents, catechists – who, in one way or another, transmit the experience of God. Rather than looking for culprits we should see what needs to be changed, not only in our catechesis but also in our homilies and religious talk.

It is this atmosphere that we need to examine. We have to ask ourselves: How are we, as a Christian community, living our relationship with God? Of course, the whole community needs guidance to move on to a healthy relationship with God. The community won’t be helped if in homilies it is exposed to an excessive dosage of morality.

I am not saying morality is not important but simply that it should not come first or, worse, even be the sole object of official religious talk. Unfortunately, the tendency to limit religious talk to morality has been with us for far too long. Sigmund Freud equated religion with morality, and although he was wrong he may not have been to blame given what he witnessed.

God’s pedagogy follows a different order. For the Israelites, God was not in the first place the One who gave them the commandments but the One who liberated them from slavery, who was with them while they crossed the desert, who protected them, who provided for their needs. Only after having made sure that the people had this experience of Him did God give them the commandments.

In such a context, morality is seen as a relationship, not as a set of rules. Morality becomes personal and, in the case of failure, reconciliation should be easier. Rather than anxiety, recognition of sinfulness would be accompanied by healthy guilt which does not include anxiety and anguish in its formula.

Our image of God seems to be different. For us, God is more a judge than a liberator, and morality a set of rules the breaking of which incurs punishment. This is a formula for anguish and anxiety. Children are surely the most vulnerable in this scenario but all can be victims.

Fr Gerard Hughes in his In Search of a Way, writes: “Religion which is presented in a threatening coercive manner... can lead to atheism... That is why some forms of Catholic education, inflicted with threats of punishment both now and hereafter, can produce stifled or disillusioned men and women, while others, who profess no religion, have listened to their hearts, are more Christian in their behaviour than many of us who are practising Christians” (p. 78).

Dr Grech, in sharing his observation with us, has done the Christian community a very good deed. Feedback should always be received thoughtfully but gratefully.

alfred.j.micallef@um.edu.mt

Fr Micallef is from the Society of Jesus.